Opinion: My balanced thoughts on Spurs refusing to meet with Supporters’ Trust

For those who are unaware of the situation, following the three straight defeats ending in a 3-1 loss to Arsenal, the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust requested a meeting with the Tottenham board in order to discuss the short/medium/long-term plans for the club.

However, the THST revealed today that the Tottenham board had officially rejected the chance for a meeting, assumedly because they do not want to talk about their plans or have to deal with questions from the fans…

The immediate thing that jumps to mind is it’s a poor move from Tottenham, whatever way you look at it. Arguably, the disconnect between the fans and the club is wider now than it has been for the past decade, so this was a chance to come together and open dialogue.

The THST wanted to voice the worries of large sections of the fanbase, most notably surrounding the direction Tottenham Hotspur are currently moving in. What is the long-term plan? Where is the Spurs DNA we were promised? Will there be more investment? Etc etc etc

Now, I can see why Tottenham wouldn’t want to take the meeting. After all, they would likely be criticised either way. People would moan at them rejecting the meeting, but also moan at the lack of answers they were able to provide if they took it.

After all, this is a football club and a business where Daniel Levy and co can’t give a lot away in terms of their tactics and plans for the future. It’s not like he would tell us how much they are going to spend, on what, when it would happen, how long Nuno would be given, etc.

Any question in that meeting would be met with the same PR drivel you see from any football interview. So I can understand why they didn’t want to do it. Perhaps they think it makes more sense to stay under the radar and work behind the scenes for the moment.

The request for a meeting also came as fans were calling for Nuno’s head. If Levy and co turned down the meeting because they did not want to add fuel to the fire, then that would make perfect sense. They want to give Nuno time, therefore, maybe the meeting should also wait.

However, with all of this taken into account, Spurs still should have replied positively. They should have outlined in their response that they couldn’t talk about X, Y, and Z, that they would not speak on Nuno rumours and that they couldn’t go into details on the long-term plan.

What they could do, though, was have a meeting with the THST to outline the basics of the short/medium/long-term plan. Such as building the foundations of a new squad, promoting youth, aiming to bring back positive football, etc. All vague, but at least it would be something.

I think the fans just want to know that there is a plan and that Levy is not stumbling from one last-ditch back-up to another. Or worse, that the ownership are treading water until they can find a new buyer for the club, leaving us in limbo for who knows how long.

I think Tottenham believe the recent videos with Fabio Paratici, as good as they are, is enough to keep the fans updated. It’s a good start and a step in the right direction, but it is not enough. Remember the news of having a fan on the board after the Super League stuff?

It’s about time that fans had a voice and an ear in the Tottenham board room. Yes, it is a business and should be treated as one. But the fans should also be treated as shareholders rather than customers. Football is a very unique industry where the fans ARE the club.

So, yes. I do understand why the THST wanted a meeting and yes, I do understand why Tottenham said no. But I can’t help but feel there was room to meet in the middle and for Levy to extend an olive branch, keeping us in the loop rather than out in the cold.

I very much hope that it was more a case of avoiding a meeting this early in the season when people were calling for Nuno’s head, because that would have been unfair. But that should have been communicated in Tottenham’s rejection.

They should have pencilled a meeting in for around Christmas when real questions could be asked, assessments could be made, and answers could be given. Fingers crossed the divide between the fans and the board shrinks in the near future… although I have my doubts.

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